


Let The Morning Come

by KurtsAnatomy (TheSwanOfWinterfell)



Category: Glee, Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Doesn't follow the game, F/M, M/M, Mike is super gay, Multi, No Smut, Polyamory, Sexual Tension, Unrequited Love, mild homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2018-11-13 02:02:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11174697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSwanOfWinterfell/pseuds/KurtsAnatomy
Summary: When eleven teenagers escape to their friend's lodge for a winter retreat, things go from bad to worse when a mysterious presence lurks around every corner. Allegiances are severed, new discoveries are made and nobody was ready for what happened at dawn.





	1. Oh, These Sour Times

The snow swirled around the blissful cabin, scattering around like tiny hurricanes before finally settling on the ground like blankets, making the area look even more picturesque. Oblivious to the natural beauty outside, eleven teenagers were having the time of their lives.

Or so they thought.

The music flared obnoxiously as Jess tapped the button on the portable speaker to raise the volume of Miley Cyrus’ catchy pop anthem “ _We Can’t Stop”_. Several of the party groaned, raising their objections about the song choice.

Jess danced her way back into the fray, twisting her hips expertly, dancing with everyone and anyone who would entertain her. Partying was a simple thing. You drank, you danced, you had fun laughing with your friends. People who didn’t party puzzled her. She wasn’t dumb like most of her friends believed, but she wasn’t what anyone would call an empath. Some things just seemed natural and she didn’t really get why people would want to sit down at a party.

Matt shrugged, tapping his foot idly. His party experience was always best described as a place to people-watch. He had a rather interesting group of friends who were vastly different in every way and he was always very intrigued to learn how such a diverse bunch had assembled to form the tightest knit friendships Matt had ever witnessed.

Emily huffed loudly. Miley Cyrus was not her idea of a good time. She looked up at her boyfriend, Matt and tried to block out the unwelcome intrusion of another. Emily tried very hard to block out the actual melody of the song and let the background beats surround her in a dull haze. The sooner this song was over, the better. Then she could commandeer the iPod and actually pick a decent music selection which wasn’t centered around trashy pop music.

Beth sighed as she watched her sister dancing. Not that she was a bad mover, she was just obvious in her direction. Everyone in the room knew what was going on there and the more Beth had tried to point that out, her sister would clam up and deny everything. It was slightly infuriating. So, instead of dwelling on sibling issues, she decided to have her own fun, fun that didn’t involve worrying about her sister or her brother for that matter. Letting the cheesy dance music wash over her, Beth threw her hands up in the air, perhaps over-dancing considering the song choice.

Hannah sighed as she looked around the room. Everyone seemed to be getting exactly what they wanted, bar one or two of them. It wasn’t fair. Hannah wanted so badly to just take off her glasses, stick some contact lenses in and be the girl that _he_ wanted her to be. The girl that she wanted to be for _him_. It wasn’t a big secret, it was just something that she didn’t want to talk about because it made her upset. So she avoided it. She knew that it annoyed her siblings, but that was how it had to be or else Hannah would have no shot at happiness, only misfortune and loneliness.

Chris didn’t really mind the music too much. He was more interested in watching another as he had plenty of fun. Chris loved to party, especially with his best buds, but something was off about this particular night. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something. Nobody was even paying attention to his doubts, which was definitely a good thing. Chris didn’t want to be responsible for ruining the fun. Shrugging to himself, he downed the rest of his beer and threw the cup aside lazily, settling for dancing beside Emily, who glared at him with an unimpressed roll of her eyes.

Ashley _loved_ Miley Cyrus. Secretly, of course, she had an image to maintain. Her public music tastes were more old-school, with The Clash and Led Zeppelin monopolising most of her musical discussion. But in the privacy of her own Spotify playlist, she was allowed to indulge in more of her guilty pleasures. She wasn’t going to lie and say that she ignored chart music. It wasn’t the _best_ music by any means and some of the artists were incredibly arrogant, but she enjoyed listening to a lot of it. She blamed a select few of her friends for that one.

Josh smiled and nodded to everyone as eye contact was fleetingly made. He was sat down, one of only two to be seated. His red cup grasped tightly in his hand, Josh tried to ignore the fact that everyone was silently judging him for not having enough fun at his own party. Well, he shared the party hosting with his two sisters, but it had been his idea for them to have a weekend long blowout at the family lodge. He glanced up at his friends, just happy that they were enjoying themselves to be too preoccupied with his own sense of fun. The only major obstacle was that he didn’t really dance. Not that that was stopping Chris from enjoying himself. Josh tilted his head as an unreadable expression passed over Chris’ stony face. He wondered what the issue was there. Probably some more Ashley angst. Figures. Josh thought Ashley was smoking and wished Chris would make a move already so he would have an actual excuse not to ask her out. Though, the more he thought about it, the more he questioned which member of that pair he actually wanted to ask out. Maybe it was both. That was a thing, right? Both?

Sam considered herself the only one besides Jess who was truly enjoying herself. In her group of eleven, she was the one they all went to for advice, unless it was concerning her. Then they went to Ashley, but it was mostly her. She glanced around the room and knew what one thing was stopping each and every one of them from having the most fun they could. For example, Emily wasn’t happy in her relationship but was too insecure and nervous to leave it. On the opposite side, Matt could feel his girlfriend slipping away from him but didn’t know how to keep her close. Sam had to say, alcohol was not a great solution. It made them all dizzy and unthinking, _unfeeling_. The last party had almost ended in disaster when Josh had tried to play a prank on Jess, who threatened to cut his ears off for scaring her. Josh had ran around the kitchen table trying to make her dizzy but only resulted in falling over himself. It had taken her, Chris and Matt to subdue Jess for long enough to safely remove Josh from the situation after an apology had been expressed.

Kurt sighed as his cup was once again made empty. By his own doing, of course. He downed his double vodka with Red Bull in what felt like four seconds flat, earning a whoop from both Jess and Josh. The two were surprisingly alike, not that the two of them recognised that, of course. Jess maintained that Josh was a moron and Josh maintained that Jess was an airhead. But they were friends, they were all friends. There wasn’t one weak link. Except for maybe Emily and Jess, though they’d made a better effort to get along of late. There was also Hannah, who Kurt suspected didn’t like him very much, due to their mutual crush. Kurt looked at the guy in question, who winked quickly before Kurt twirled so that his blush wasn’t noticed. It also gave him a chance to shake his ass the way his dance lessons had taught him. He caught Emily’s eye and she smirked, nodding behind him. _He’s watching you_ , she mouthed. Kurt would’ve considered it creepy if he wasn’t excited by the fact that those beautiful light brown eyes were watching _him_. Mixing himself another drink, his usual, Kurt tried to forget about it and have some more fun with his best friends.

Mike, who was sat to Josh’s left, groaned at the alcohol hit his head all at once, unrelenting and fierce. He looked at Kurt, who looked to be having the best time ever with a red cup always in his hand. He winked at him, not realising that Hannah’s eyes were also on him, rather hungrily. Kurt turned away from him and Mike felt a cold chill run through his body. He wasn’t supposed to be appreciating Kurt’s ass like this. He was supposed to be looking at Jess and the way her body moved. Guys didn’t look at other guys...except for Kurt. Maybe, then, it was okay that he wanted to hold Kurt close to him and not let go...and not in a friend kind of way. He wanted to rub up against Kurt while he was dancing and it seemed as though Kurt wanted to do the same. From the looks he was getting, it seemed that way at least. Maybe something would come at that. Actually, Mike was sure it would...because he was going to make it happen.

As each had a good time in their own ways, Emily was the first to break the silence regarding the music choice.

“Okay! That’s it! I’ve had enough of Miss Hannah Montana screeching down my ears about having a good time. I’m changing the song and I don’t care who’s bothered by it!”

A few groans of relief mixed with some of reluctant sadness about the song change, as Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love” followed.

“Finally,” Kurt crowed above the music, shooting his arms up into the air and grabbing Jess, the pair spinning and strutting in a complex choreography only those two could have designed. Mike chuckled, again not noticing Hannah’s lustful looks. Beth sighed, walking over to a now standing Mike. Enough was enough.

“Over here, asshole,” she snapped, dragging him over to the kitchen area.

Mike frowned, wondering what had gotten Beth so agitated towards him. He hadn’t done anything that he could think of.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Mike gaped. “I don’t follow.”

“Oh, don’t play dense, it doesn’t suit you.”

Mike grinned. “Maybe I _am_ just dense because I have _no_ idea what you’re talking about, Beth.”

“Fuck, Mike, I’m talking about _Hannah_! You know, my twin sister, the girl who’s been in love with you for six years!”

This was definitely news to Mike. Sure, Hannah was extremely friendly towards him and sometimes made excuses to talk to him about random trivia that nobody really cared for, but that did mean she loved him? Mike didn’t think so. There had been no clear signs, or was he just not looking hard enough? He didn’t think the latter was the case, however.

“Shit, Beth, I had no idea, I swear.” One thing about Mike Munroe was that he was always honest. He told white lies as everybody did, but honesty was written all over his face. Beth could tell.

“Jesus, you really had no idea...so does that mean…”

“What?”

“Hannah isn’t the only one in this group who’s been crushing on you. But I’ve already said too much today. I’m sorry for snapping at you, I thought you were being an asshole.”

Mike shook his head. “Man, I’m sorry, I should’ve been paying more attention. She must think I’m a jackass.”

“Don’t sweat it, dude. In fact, I think Hannah needs to learn a vital lesson from all of this. She attaches herself too quickly and that isn’t good.”

Mike frowned. “Wait, you said something about someone else in the group?”

But Beth was gone, lost in a haze of drunken dancing people. Mike groaned and resumed his seat. Looking around the room, he tried to deduce who his other mystery admirer was. His gaze quickly running over Hannah, he appraised the room. Head tipping back in his seat, he sighed and realised that he was doing way too much thinking at a party. Fortunately for him, he was saved from this by the arrival of Sam, who offered him a freshly made cup of...something.

“You’re definitely not drunk enough,” Sam commented as he took a sip.

“JD and Coke,” Mike commented approvingly. “You know my drink.”

Sam slapped his head playfully. “Duh, Mikey, we’ve been friends since third grade.”

Mike smirked. “Yeah, because I was secretly drinking JD and Coke as a third grader. I’m badass, Sammy, but I’m not a train-wreck.”

“You sure about that? Because I _know_ that you’ve been sat here for the past half hour, not because you’re bored, but because you’ve been watching Kurt and thinking about whether or not you’re actually going to make a damn move.”

“Jesus, Sam, tell me how you really feel.”

Sam shrugged. “I’m just tired of watching you make puppy eyes at someone who is so clearly into you.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Mike smirked smugly. Sam slapped his arm.

“That’s precisely what Kurt doesn’t need. You being your simian self. Just be the guy he knows you are and you’ll be fine. Dance with him, do a little grinding, you’ll find yourself in Josh’s bedroom in about five minutes flat.”

Mike shook his head. “I can’t do that tonight.”

“Why, you ran out of Viagra?”

Mike snorted but shook his head again. “Beth told me about Hannah.”

“Wait, you didn’t know? Wow Mike, I knew you were oblivious, but is a new record. She doesn’t exactly make herself subtle.”

“Whether I knew or not, I can’t just go up to Kurt and kiss him when I know Hannah’s going to be watching. It’s not fair to her. I probably need to talk to her about it first.”

Sam downed her drink and licked her lips. “Okay, that’s what you don’t do. That’ll just upset her.”

“You’re the one saying I should kiss someone else right in front of her!”

Sam frowned. “Wait…”

Mike rolled his eyes. “What?”

“Han isn’t here.”

“She’s probably in the bathroom or something.”

Sam nodded to Kurt, who was busy bumping and grinding with Jess. “Well now’s your chance.”

Mike rubbed his hands together. “I can’t. I’m nervous.”

“Dude, you’re like the most confident guy I know. And there’s no way this could go wrong. Just…do it.”

Mike laughed. “I’ll talk to him later tonight. We’re sharing a room anyway.”

Sam’s eyes widened in false surprise. “Look how that turned out. Almost as if someone manufactured the sleeping arrangements so that would happen. Almost as if someone _likes you_.”

“Alright, you’ve had your fun. Let’s just go and dance, people are starting to stare at us.”

“That’s Kurt and he’s staring at _you_.”

Mike got to his feet and led Sam into the fray of dancers. Some remix Mike didn’t know the name of was playing from the speakers and everyone was enjoying it. He knocked back his drink, quickly realising that Sam had brought him a double and felt his head start to throb lightly. He was greeted with a familiar pair of hands on his hips.

“You could stand to loosen up a bit more. You know, get your hips into it.”

Mike looked at Kurt swayed, shaking his hips the way he knew how to. “And just how drunk are you?”

Kurt shrugged. “Drunk enough that I’m very aware of how close you are.”

“Kurt!” Emily called from behind him. He turned around, accepting the shot glass she was holding and knocked back the tequila without a care in the world. Emily and Kurt could go for hours longer than the rest of them. They consumed alcohol like it was water and they rarely got hangovers. Mike was curious and envious of this talent.

“What were you saying?” Kurt smiled as he turned back around.

Mike decided it was now or never. Initiate some kind of move or back down like a total pussy. He could hear Sam’s voice yelling at him from her position now over by Ashley and Josh.

“I really want to kiss you right now,” Mike mumbled pathetically.

Kurt, not being able to lip read, frowned. “What?”

Over by the music, Matt was swaying dizzily, more drunk than he should have allowed himself to get.

“I really want to kiss you right now.” Mike’s latest attempt at the truth was drowned out by a spike in the volume.

Kurt shrugged again.

Mike decided to just go for it. He coiled a hand around the back of Kurt’s waist and yanked him closer, their lips smashing together like they were made to do it. Cheers and whoops sounded from around them as their kiss deepened. Mike’s cup clattered to the floor as his other hand nested itself in Kurt’s usually pristine hair. He smirked into the kiss as he pulled a small handful. Kurt’s groin pushed up into Mike’s own at the action and Mike felt a light nibble on his bottom lip.

Holy. Shit.

This was everything. Why hadn’t Mike done this before? He had certainly thought about it, but something had always stopped him. He didn’t think Kurt would take him seriously. In fact, he still had doubts about that.

As the kiss broke, nobody but Beth saw Hannah lurking at the top of the stairs, sitting with her body obscured but so her eyes could witness everything that was going on below her. And she was not pleased at all.

Kurt knew how much she liked Mike. Granted, she also knew how much he liked Mike and had done since before she had even thought about boys in a romantic way. She figured that they should have formed some kind of pact not to do anything about it, but Hannah hadn’t thought Mike would make a move on either of them. Not because Kurt wasn’t desirable, he definitely was, because she hadn’t thought that Mike was gay or even had any interest whatsoever in Kurt. Hannah knew that they were quite close friends, possibly the closest in the group besides Sam and Josh and her and Beth, but she didn’t think Kurt’s interest was reciprocated. She knew that hers wasn’t, it was just obvious from all the times Beth had told her to just move on already. Had she known that Mike was into Kurt? Did anyone know? Did Mike even know before tonight?

Either way, this hurt. It would hurt her for Mike to be with anyone, but another member of the group was just too much. They were always together, the eleven of them, it would be painful to see Mike always being coupled up with someone who wasn’t her.

There was a lot that Hannah could deal with, but this was her limit. Walking all around the first floor, she slipped down the back stairs and exited the lodge through the storeroom door. The snow hit her directly in the face, but she didn’t care. She just needed to walk and she needed to get away from the fun and kisses that were being had in the lodge.

“Hannah!” She heard Beth’s voice behind her. She was tempted to stop, but didn’t want to face the questions and the obvious eye rolling.

So she ran. Deep into the woods.

Which turned out to be the first mistake of many that would happen over that weekend. The first mistake that would set into motion a sequence of events that would change everything forever.


	2. Everyone's Looking For Something

Hannah was just running. She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew that she had to run away. Even just for a little while. To get away from everything. Even her sister and brother, the former of who she knew was rapidly chasing after her. Beth would reach her eventually, but Hannah needed time to collect her thoughts.

So she continued to sprint deeper into the snowy woods, her breath spiralling into the air as the cold hit her. She felt a deep burn in her chest, but she tried to ignore it. Her head pounded from running but she knew she needed to go _further_ , the more distance put between her and her life, the better. Hannah wished she could just forget it all, wished that she had never been able to develop romantic feelings for another human person, because all they ever did was disappoint you and choose somebody else.

She was of the opinion that Mike only acknowledged her because they were a group. Mike had been friends with Josh first, and in turn had been introduced to the girls. She reckoned that if they weren’t a unit, Mike wouldn’t even look at her in the halls at school.

And why would he?

She wasn’t special, she wasn’t beautiful like Jess or Sam, she wasn’t super-smart like her sister or Emily. She had nothing particularly striking going for her, nothing about her couldn’t be found in one of the other girls in the group.

Or, apparently, one of the boys.

It was disappointing, because Hannah Washington _adored_ Kurt Hummel.

It had been like that for as long as she could remember. She barely remembered her life without Kurt in it. He was the first guy to tell her that she was beautiful besides her father. And he truly meant it. Just like Mike and Sam, Kurt’s opinions were always honest and you could always count on him to tell you the absolute truth, or at least his honest opinion. Hannah had gone to him so many times about everything and he had always set her straight. He had told her that he didn’t think she would ever be with Mike, but that just meant he wasn’t the right guy for her, no matter how much he might have seemed like it at the time.

Hannah knew he wasn’t being malicious or trying to get her out of the way so that he could make a move on Mike, it was just the unfortunate way the situation had played itself out.

Hannah finally stopped running, seeing nothing but snow and trees all around her. She blinked a snowflake out of her eyes as the cold trapped her in its grasp. Her lungs were burning, letting oxygen soak into her body. She turned around and saw nothing, nobody. So maybe she had overreacted earlier. Or maybe she hadn’t, her brain wasn’t working too clearly at the moment.

She braced herself on a nearby tree and sighed. This was what she wanted.

* * *

 

Kurt sat on the sofa holding his head. Jess was on the opposite side doing the very same. Everybody else had decided to go out and look for Hannah and Beth, who had been gone for some time now. They had bottles of water which they were furiously gulping down. Kurt’s throat burned with the familiar aftertaste of tequila, something that he thought he had gotten used to. Apparently not, considering now his throat felt like someone just stabbed it with an acid-coated blade. Jess shuffled in her seat slightly to face him.

“So…you and Mike, huh?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Kurt blushed, although momentarily. He regained his composure before answering. “I don’t know. It might have been merely a drunken kiss.”

“It didn’t look like that to me. He was really going in there. I’m half-surprised that you didn’t swallow his tongue.”

“I don’t know where it came from. Honestly.”

“What are you so worried about?”

Kurt shrugged. “That the thing I’ve wanted for so long has finally happened and Mike doesn’t feel the same way about it. We didn’t talk about it afterwards, so I don’t know how he’s feeling. People make drunken mistakes all the time, I should know, I’ve made enough of them.”

“Somehow, I don’t think that this was a mistake. I saw the determination in his eyes. I saw what it meant to him. He definitely figured something out.”

“You’re okay with this, right?”

Jess rolled her eyes. “If you think you’re going to get away with not being with Mike because you think I have feelings for him, you’re mistaken. I’m into someone else.”

Kurt was excited. “Who is it? It can’t be Chris or Josh. It’s not Mike…oh my god. Are you into Matt?”

Jess scoffed. “As if I’d want someone who was into Emily.”

“Play nice. So if…wait.”

“You’re forgetting about the girls, dude.”

“Sam?”

Jess blushed. “Nobody else knows. Nobody even knows that I’m bi. I’m going to keep it that way for now. I know you won’t say anything to anyone.”

“Of course not. If I learned anything from this whole thing, it’s that you never really know what people are hiding.”

“Way to sound ominous, Kurt.”

“Nice word. Did Sam teach it to you?”

“Nice comeback. Did Mike teach it to you?”

“He did. Shortly before he grabbed my ass and stuck his tongue down my throat. Shit, that really did happen didn’t it?”

“And not just in a wet dream this time.”

Kurt scoffed. “You’re a heathen.”

“Hey, you’re the one grinding on boys and partaking in underage drinking.”

“Yeah, like you’re sober and wouldn’t be sucking face with Sam right now if you had the chance.”

Jess clapped a hand on his leg. “Don’t think she’s into girls, dude.”

Kurt shrugged. “I didn’t think Mike would be into guys until today. Like I said, you never really know what people are hiding.”

Jess looked out of the window. “Do you think Hannah’s okay?”

An unsettling feeling swelled in Kurt’s stomach. He didn’t like how Hannah was feeling, mostly because he k _new_ all too well how Hannah was feeling. It happened years ago, when his first crush on Josh was still ever so strong in his head and heart. And then Josh had kissed some girl who wasn’t even in their group. And her name was Patty. Kurt had made up so many cruel rhymes about her that he was deeply ashamed of. But he was a kid, he had learned from his mistakes.

And now _he_ was Patty.

And Hannah was him.

He had wanted to be out there looking for her, but Sam had kindly advised him to start sobering up and that he was probably the last person that Hannah would have wanted to see. She was right, as usual, so he concentrated on trying to keep a clear head. Hannah running away had really sobered him up, something he was immensely glad about.

Kurt didn’t know this, but he would need all his wits about him for the night that was about to unfold.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Ashley, Chris, Emily, Josh, Matt, Mike and Sam wandered through the forest, scanning their surroundings for any signs of Beth or Hannah. Beth had sprinted off in front of them and they had all followed suit. The more the merrier applied here and they had Kurt and Jess to hold down the fort at the cabin. It was a rather chilly night out and nobody had brought a jacket. Josh wrapped his arm around a shivering Ashley, much to Chris’...well, Chris didn’t know how he felt about that. Things were confusing. Feelings were confusing.

“Hannah! Beth!” Sam shouted through her cupped hands.

Emily rolled her eyes. “You seriously think they’re going to hear you over the wind?”

Sam spun around, eyes narrowed. “Well it’s better than just bumbling along the path hoping to bump into them. If you’ve got a better plan, Emily, by all means please execute it.”

Emily mumbled something that rather sounded like “I’d like to execute _you_ ”, which nobody but Matt heard.

“Play nice,” he whispered into her ear. She shrugged him off, walking ahead of the group.

“We’ll find them,” Mike said unhelpfully.

Emily scoffed. “You’re the reason she ran off in the first place, Munroe.”

Mike held his hands up. “Look, I’m not about to get into that right now. We just need to focus on finding Hannah.”

“Have you tried looking down Kurt’s throat? Oh, you already did. So we know she isn’t there.”

Josh shook his head, passing a seriously trembling Ashley along to Chris, who smiled at the gesture. “It would help a lot if everyone would just stop bickering and concentrated on trying to find my sisters. So the path diverges down here, so we can cover more ground by going in groups. Chris, Ashley and I will take the left track and you guys take the right. Whoever finds her, text the group thread and we’ll all head back to the cabin. Sound good?”

Nobody wanted to argue with the worried brother, so they all just nodded quietly as they approached the split in the paths. Emily let Matt wrap his arm around her shoulders this time as they surged ahead down the right path, leaving Mike and Sam to bring up the rear.

They parted ways with the other three when Sam turned to Mike.

“Do you regret it?”

Mike’s lips tightened instinctively. “I don’t think so. It sucks that Hannah saw us, but it was a really great kiss. Like, thinking about all the times I could done that but haven’t really fucks me up, Sam.”

“Sounds like someone had their Cinderella moment.”

Mike nodded seriously. “I think I did. Let’s hope I don’t lose a shoe or my foot might literally fall off.”

Sam smirked. “I’m glad. It’s about time you guys hooked up The sexual chemistry has been a lot to handle.”

“I don’t know if this is just a hook-up, Sam.”

Sam blinked, unsure she was hearing correctly. “Wait, so you...”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I mean, it’s _Kurt_. Who _isn’t_ completely obsessed with him? It’s Kurt.”

Sam conceded that point with a nod. It _was_ Kurt, after all. He had moved to their elementary school halfway through a school year and he had enchanted just about everyone by the end of it. There had been some bullies, but Mike and Matt had seen to it that it ceased. Everybody listened to them and they knew that Kurt Hummel was something special and therefore was off-limits.

Kurt had developed a friendship with their group, but also individual connection with literally all of them, even Emily, who had taken the longest to warm up to him as she did with everybody she met. Kurt saw something in her that the others didn’t and perhaps they were more alike than she thought. Kurt brought out the best in them all and their lives weren’t the same since he met them.

“You can’t just assume that you have feelings for him, Mike. You have to _feel_ it.”

“I’m not sure what I feel. I was drawn to Kurt the day I met him and it might be too much to share, but I’ve been jerking off thinking about him since I first discovered what it was.”

Sam pretended to cringe, but straightened immediately. “Yeah, that was too much dude. But Kurt, despite all of his veneers, is extremely fragile when it comes to this stuff. You remember seeing him confess his feelings for Josh way back when and that was a minor childhood crush.”

Mike did remember that, and he had also remembered how it had stung him even though he wasn’t involved. Kurt and Josh had been inseparable back then. Josh clung to Kurt’s every word and Kurt had fallen for him. Kurt decided that enough was enough and told Josh how he felt, not realising that Josh was into Patricia Underwood. Josh had let him down as gently as he knew how, still maintaining that Kurt was the best person he knew, but Kurt had been devastated. He didn’t really know how romantic feelings worked outside of movies. He figured that if you liked someone enough, they would like you back, because that was just how it worked, wasn’t it?

“You’re right. I don’t want to hurt him.”

Sam noticed Matt and Emily getting a little too far away for comfort, so she ushered Mike along quickly, effectively ending their conversation.

In front of them, Emily was scolding Matt over something they didn’t particularly care to concentrate on. As she ranted, Matt quickly turned around to them and mimed a gun going off against his head. Emily didn’t notice a thing apart from Sam and Mike chuckling. She narrowed her eyes at them, but they continued to walk straight ahead.

* * *

 

Ashley watched as Chris and Josh walked ahead of her, easing into their natural banter. She wasn’t one to join in as much, although she did partake sometimes. She left the witty comebacks to those two, and Kurt, Sam, and Emily. Jess was slowly rising in the ranks, though, particularly with the assistance of Kurt, who blew each of them out of the water. Sam was the only one who could even compete with him, but her general niceness ruined most of her barbs.

She felt something peculiar in her stomach watching the boys talk. She focused on Chris, the feeling remained as she knew it would. She looked to Josh to calm the sensation, but it stayed. It lingered when she didn’t think it would. They always joked about them being a package deal, but Ashley had never thought it would apply like this.

She knew that she loved both of them, but she just didn’t know how. She and Chris had been building something stronger gradually over time, but Josh had always been there for her with her problems _about_ Chris, as his best friend. She didn’t imagine that Josh felt anything for _her_ , but then again nobody ever really knew how anybody felt about anything in the sanctuary of their own minds.

“Hey, Ash, you okay?”

Josh was smiling at her and she really couldn’t help the uneasy feeling that parked in her gut. Chris had stopped too, concerned.

She nodded. “Yeah, just worried about the girls. I hope we find them soon.”

The boys nodded and continued to walk, scanning the area for movement.

Ashley didn’t feel bad because it wasn’t a lie. She was worried about Beth and Hannah, particularly in a bad storm like this. None of them should really be out of the cabin in this weather, but some things just had to be done. Using the ‘worried’ excuse was easier than delving into whatever it was that was going on in her stomach...and her heart. She knew it wasn’t alcohol talking, she knew that something was going on that she would have to confront.

But there were other times, better times, now she had to focus on finding their friends. Before it was too late and before she really started to think about what was going on with her.

Because that was a box that was better left sealed.

* * *

 

Beth ignored the burning in her lungs as she spotted Hannah leaning against a tree, head in her hands. She sprinted up to her and put a tentative hand on her shoulder.

Hannah’s head snapped up. “Jesus, Beth, you scared me.”

“ _I_ scared _you_? Han, you can’t just go running off like that.”

Hannah nodded feebly. “I know. I just needed to collect myself.”

“That’s why we have the panic room. For when you just need to scream it out.”

“I really do.”

“Then let’s do it. There’s nobody about. Just scream off this cliff, as loud as you need.” Beth knew this would be good for her, Hannah was way too tightly wound.

Hannah turned to the chasm below her, one that she hadn’t really realised was there and took a deep breath.

She unleashed an almighty scream into the empty space, one that ripped her lungs apart, sending shockwaves through her throat and chest. Beth was impressed.

“They’re here!” A voice yelled through the silence.

Beth turned around and groaned.

Hannah knew that voice anywhere. She had been listening to that voice in her head for years now. And now she wished she couldn’t hear it. She didn’t want to see Mike right now, it was too much.

Mike and Sam sprinted into the clearing, sighing in relief. Matt and Emily trailed closely behind, smiling.

“It’s not safe to be out here, guys, we should go back,” Sam said, shooting off a text to the group thread. Several phones beeped.

“I don’t really want to be there right now,” Hannah said quietly. It was definitely awkward and she couldn’t meet Mike’s eyes, ones that she knew were boring into her. Usually she would have jumped at the chance to meet his beautiful gaze, but this was different. They would be filled with apologies and pity and Hannah didn’t want that right now.

Emily huffed. “It’s a shitty situation, but the weather’s only going to get worse. You can’t stay out here all night.”

Beth turned to Hannah. “They’re right, Han. You could just go straight to your room when we get back.”

Sam tugged on Mike’s hand. “Let’s walk ahead,” she whispered. “See you guys at the cabin.”

Mike followed, wishing Hannah would just look at him. He needed to apologise, tell her that he had no idea about her feelings until he had been told and was sorry that he had kissed Kurt in front of her. He had done a shitty done and he had to handle this carefully, to not risk alienating both Hannah _and_ Kurt, which could so easily happen.

Sam and Mike stumbled through the forest, wanting to get back as quickly as possible. The warmth of the cabin seemed so good right about now.

* * *

 

Kurt placed the back of red solo cups onto the cold floor of the kitchen, heaving a sigh. He was pretty much sober now, but his limbs still ached from walking up to the cabin and dancing and his chest ached from the events of the night. He stretched out his back and grabbed himself another bottle of water, just to be on the safe side.

Picking his head up, Kurt stared out of the window.

He gasped.

A figure stood, also staring at him, from the other side of the glass. Cloaked in shadow, it stood menacingly. He knew the others were out looking for the girls, which meant...

“JESS!” He shouted, whirling around quickly. He slid into the entrance of the kitchen as Jess bounded over to him.

“What, what’s going on?”

Kurt turned back around and the figure was gone.

“There was a...something was watching me.”

Jess narrowed her eyes. “Are you fucking with me, Hummel? ‘Cause it’s not funny.”

Kurt looked at her solemnly. “I’m not kidding, Jess. Someone was outside, looking in through the window.”

“Maybe one of the others is trying to play a prank on us.”

“There are a lot of them, we would’ve heard them. Besides, from the way they came, the outside light should have come on.”

“So it’s...someone else.”

Kurt nodded. “Yes. But who? There’s not supposed to be anybody else here this weekend.”

Jess smiled grimly. “Looks like we have an intruder.”


	3. Semper Paratus

A sharp bang on the door startled Kurt and Jess.

Despite their initial fears, it was just everybody returning from their rescue mission. Beth and Hannah had returned in tow. Kurt sighed in relief, but was also wary about speaking to Hannah.

He knew he had to pull her aside and talk to her about the whole situation; it was rather him doing it than Mike. Everything was still fragile.

He also had to speak to Mike about what had transpired between them. He needed to know whether the drunk kiss was just that, drunk, or whether it was a spark of something more between them. Mike must have known that Kurt had been in love with him ever since elementary school, he must have. Then again, Mike was fairly oblivious about things regarding himself.

Kurt definitely wasn’t confused about his feelings, but he knew that Mike would be. Kurt didn’t know if it was just a spur of the moment alcohol-fuelled thing or whether Mike had been thinking about boys (read: Kurt) for a while now. He wasn’t sure which outcome was going to come out of tonight, but he desperately hoped for the latter.

He wasn’t sure which conversation to have first, he didn’t want to alarm Hannah for nothing, but he also didn’t want to potentially alienate her if things worked out with Mike.

Luckily, he wouldn’t have to choose right this second because Hannah flitted upstairs to her room, Beth following in hot pursuit. The latter turned to Kurt with a sad smile.

“Don’t worry about her, Kurt. She’ll come around.”

Kurt nodded and addressed the others, who were shivering from the deep winter cold.

“What’s with the baseball bat, Kurt?” Josh grinned, nodding to the weapon placed by Kurt’s side.

Kurt looked deadly serious. “Someone was looking in the window earlier and it scared me. It wasn’t one of you guys was it? Playing a joke or something?”

Sam shook her head. “You’d know if it was.”

Jess sighed. “Then it means that somebody else is here up at the lodge with us. Someone we did not invite.”

Emily snorted. “As long as it’s not Rachel Berry, I can cope with it.”

Matt, Mike and Chris laughed quietly.

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly. “Even potential psychopaths dress better than her.”

The group who had been outside ran to their luggage to get something warmer to wrap up in and assembled around the newly lit fire. Kurt’s worries of a serial murderer vanished instantly as soon as Mike sidled up next to him.

Mike prodded his leg awkwardly. “Hey.”

Kurt smiled. “Hey yourself. You warm enough in that?”

Kurt gestured to Mike’s thin jumper and snow-covered jeans.

He shrugged. “I’m good for now. Although I know where to go if I need warming up.” His smirk said it all.

Kurt shrugged. “I mean, Ashley’s big blanket is cosy, but I don’t think fits two people.”

Mike snorted. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. Which is why we can’t talk about this yet. I need to talk to Hannah first.”

Mike nodded. “I thought that might be the case. Well I’ll be here whenever you want to talk.”

Sam muttered something about going to run a bath. Kurt subtly locked eyes with Jess and smirked. The girl shook her head slowly, eyes narrowed. Kurt knew that glare way too well. It reeked of his own creation. It was his signature look that said _“You’re a bitch_ ”.

As the conversation swelled, Kurt took that moment to excuse himself, trudging up the snow-beaten staircase. He was not looking forward to this impending conversation, but he knew it was necessary and everyone would feel better afterwards.

He knocked on the door hesitantly, exhaling deeply when the resounding “come in” met his ears.

He poked his head around the door. Beth was nowhere to be seen. Hannah was sat cross-legged on her bed, leaned over a small book which Kurt guessed was her journal. Upon seeing Kurt, she quickly made to stuff it under her bed.

“Can I come in?” He wondered.

Hannah smiled and nodded.

He sat opposite her on her bed and sighed. “Look, Han, I want to say that I’m really sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologise for, Kurt,” she replied swiftly.

“I know,” Kurt muttered. “I just want to apologise on behalf of the situation. It’s tough, I know it is. You know I do.”

“Patty,” she whispered.

Kurt nodded, chuckling. “But I know this is on a bigger scale. We fell for him around the same time, I think. Believe me when I tell you that I had no intention of doing anything with Mike tonight. It took me completely by surprise and I think it did him too.

“I just wanted to come and clear the air and make sure we’re still okay. You mean so much to me, Hannah, but I understand if you need some time or some space to process whatever happened tonight.”

Hannah shook her head. “Kurt, I’ve been completely unfair to you tonight. Like you said, we fell for him at the same time and we’ve been through this together. We always talked about him and shared fantasies about him and I completely overreacted. Running off was dumb, I just need to be a big girl and handle it. If my feelings in any way stopped you from being with him, please don’t let them. I’ll be fine.”

Kurt bit his lip. “Are you sure? I don’t know if that’s what’s going to happen, but I don’t want to hurt you at all.”

“You won’t. Go, go be with your man. I’ll be down in a few minutes for the awkward re-integration into the group.”

Kurt grinned. “I’ll think of a good game we can play to make it easier. Thanks Hannah, for being real cool about all this.”

“Are you kidding, thank _you_ , Kurt! I don’t know that many people would’ve had the consideration to come and talk to me, even if you didn’t really need to. I appreciate it all the same.”

Kurt wished her well and slipped out the door. That had gone...a lot easier than he had expected.

But now it was the hard part.

Making sure that Mike was into him was a risk he didn’t think he could take if not for the kiss. It said a lot, but some things were still left up in the air.

When he returned to the group, Mike was missing.

Jess answered his unspoken question. “I think he went to your room.”

Kurt nodded. _Perfect_.

“Get it, Kurt!” Emily cheered as he walked away. Kurt took a little bow as he walked across the hall towards the room that he and Mike would be sharing.

_The room that he and Mike would be sharing._

_THE ROOM THAT HE AND MIKE WOULD BE SHARING!_

Kurt’s heart hammered in his chest as he thought about the expectations for that night. Was he ready for _that_? He didn’t think so. He shook his head to clear it as he turned the doorknob slowly.

Pushing the door open, he stepped inside.

Once Kurt was inside, he gasped at what he saw.

* * *

 

Mike Munroe, the object of his affections, was naked. From head to toe.

“Kurt!” Mike shrieked, grasping his towel and placing it in front of his crotch.

Kurt chuckled. “Getting a little head of ourselves are we?”

Mike grinned, flashing his teeth. “I was just about to take a shower. I guess I should thank you for getting the only room with an en-suite bathroom.”

“I do what I can. I guess right now isn’t the best time to talk.”

Mike sat on his bed. “I can hold off for a few minutes. For you.”

Kurt smirked. “Well, I can’t. _Get. Dressed._ ” Kurt’s tongue swiped across his lips when Mike fiddled with his clothes. He slipped on his underwear under the towel and looked to Kurt.

“Better?”

“I guess.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t seen me naked before. We had Gym together our whole lives.”

Kurt shook his head. “Well, I don’t peek, Michael. Although if I’d have known how tonight was going to pan out, I’d have peeked years ago.”

Kurt sat on the other bed opposite Mike, just as he had done with Hannah and smiled. “So where does this leave us?”

Mike gaped. “Right in there with the tough questions, aren’t you?”

“I like to be straight to the point.”

“Nothing about this is straight, Kurt,” Mike joked. It definitely did take the edge off of a conversation like this to have Mike joking about it. It definitely did Kurt a favour and he was thankful for the levity.

“Then answer me this. What is _this_ exactly? I’m pretty sure you know where I stand now, so this is pretty much all on you and what you want to do. No pressure.”

Mike sighed. “Kurt, I’m pretty much the most oblivious person you’ll ever meet. I had no idea Hannah liked me like that until Beth told me a few hours ago.”

“But Hannah was even more obvious than _I_ was. And I offered to give you a full body massage.”

“Wouldn’t say no to that now,” Mike winked. “Seriously though, I have no idea when people are into me.

“What I do know is that earlier was the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

Kurt pouted. “It could be alcohol talking, though.”

Mike shrugged. “Well, how about we test it out now that we’re both pretty much sober?”

Kurt looked away for just a second. “I suppose I wouldn’t be averse to that.”

Mike beckoned him closer. “Let’s see if JD really does rule my life.”

As soon as he was in touching distance, Mike grasped Kurt and pulled him thrush against him. His lips met Kurt’s chin before he dragged him up to Kurt’s own lips, connecting the two firmly.

Mike leaned back on the bed, Kurt falling against him. Kurt instinctively spread his legs, so he was straddling Mike.

Kurt moaned into the kiss and his hands wandered up to Mike’s hair, giving it an experimental tug. Judging from the resounding groan that slipped from Mike’s throat, Kurt assumed he liked it.

Kurt reluctantly broke the kiss. “So?”

Mike ran his tongue along his lips. “Not bad.”

Kurt smirked. “Judging by the thing that’s currently digging into my leg, I’m not sure you know what ‘not bad’ means.”

Mike laughed. “Fine, maybe it was amazing.”

“That’s better.”

Kurt rolled off Mike’s hard body, lying next to him. “We still need to talk.”

“I thought we made some excellent points already.”

“I’m serious. I have a question.”

“I’m all ears.”

Kurt smiled. “What made you come and kiss me earlier? You could’ve kissed anyone else in that room, boy or girl. Why me?”

Mike turned to him, leaning on his elbow. He reached out and fixed Kurt’s hair back into its prior place. “Because...you’re the most amazing and interesting person I’ve ever met. And you look beautiful when you’re happy. You look beautiful all the time, really.

“Look Kurt, like I told Sam tonight, I’ve been jerking off thinking about you since I first learned what it was. I didn’t think anything of it at the time and just assumed it was because of how comfortable we’ve always been with each other. But then I started actually _thinking_ about it. And how it made me feel.

“And I can’t think about anything else.”

Kurt pressed his lips gently to Mike’s hand. “Good answer. I feel it fitting to tell you that I’ve been in love with you for years now. You say you didn’t know, so I can level the playing field.”

Mike breathed unevenly. “Love, huh?”

Kurt’s eyes widened. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to feel those feelings. Okay, I’m going to lay out some options right now.

“One: we boil this down to alcohol and adrenaline and call it off before it gets complicated.”

“I don’t want—.”

Kurt held up his hand patiently. “Let me finish for a second.

“Two: once we get back from the lodge, we can go on a date. See how it goes, see how we feel. Just because I have feelings for you doesn’t mean we’re going to work out romantically.

“Is there a third?”

Kurt shook his head. “I was just making it up as I went along, I thought I’d think of more solutions.”

Mike chuckled. “Well I’d like to choose option two. I want to take you out. I know I definitely feel something for you, Kurt. Nobody is that good at kissing, there’s a connection here. So I want to explore that. If it works out, great, if it doesn’t, then we tried our best and we’ll remain the awesome best friends we’ve always been. Nothing has to change.”

“Do you think we could survive that? Crashing and burning and pretending like nothing happened?”

Mike shrugged. “I think we could. Failed romance doesn’t erase our platonic history, Kurt. But I have a feeling everything’s going to work out just the way we want it to.” Mike kissed Kurt’s mouth squarely. “I should take that shower.”

Kurt pressed a hand to Mike’s chest. “Yeah...you should. I should get back.”

Mike grabbed his things and slipped into the bathroom as Kurt left for the main living room again.

When he got there, everybody was in a dither.

“What’s going on?”

Sam turned to him, aghast. “We can’t find Beth.”


End file.
